Description

Last updated at 1:19, 28 Apr 2015Uploaded at 12:51, 21 Sep 2012

In vanilla Skyrim, some skills are much harder to level than others, and some perk trees are near completely worthless. SPERG fixes both of those things by adjusting skill leveling rates, adding a number of different sources of skill gain for some of the harder skills to level, and completely overhauling the perk trees. The leveling adjustments reward players for actually going out and playing the game instead of just grinding skills because they don't go up fast enough any other way, and SPERG's perks are truly exceptional. Far from being the boring, minimalist perks of the regular game, each perk is meaningful and unique. Many perks could even be made into their own standalone mod. Give SPERG a shot and see why so many people refuse to play without it!

BEFORE YOU UPGRADE:Any SPERG version prior to 4.0 must be uninstalled before installing newer versions. Don't just delete the old version - you must use the included uninstall function or your save file will retain abilities and script fragments that cause unpredictable bugs. See the upgrade section for more details.

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If anybody would like to localize this into additional languages, please do! I'd be happy to answer any questions I can.

Skyrim Perk Enhancements and Rebalanced Gameplay

New in version 4.0:

Almost every part of the mod was rewritten and optimized. This is the best version of SPERG yet, by far.

All perk trees completed!

Autoperks have been improved for even more variety.

Better support for the Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLCs.

More sources of skill gain make leveling more natural than ever.

Hardcore mode added for users who prefer a more difficult game.

Why install this mod?

-Import your existing characterWhile it's meant for a new character, SPERG will automatically import existing characters when you first load it. Make a backup save to be safe (you should always do this when installing a new mod) and give it a try now, not later.

-More playstylesPlay the character you want without worrying about gimping yourself in combat. Characters like non-destruction mages and dagger rogues are much more viable with this mod.

-Modular design without the installation fussSPERG installation doesn't require choosing between multiple different modules or combinations of plugins - you just install it and play. If you want more customization, the in-game menu has plenty of options. For users who really want to get into the thick of modding, SPERG lets you override any tree you want, and it also supports custom plugins. It's as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

-Seamless integration with the original gameEverything this mod adds could easily be a part of the original game if you didn't know better. Making sure that a first time player would have no idea they're using a mod was one of my top priorities.

-More varietyToo many characters in vanilla Skyrim end up playing almost exactly alike. Access to more varied perks and abilities gives each character a truly unique feel, making the game more fun on its own and creating more interesting tools for role-playing. Want to play a survivalist hunter who lives in peace with wild animals? Now you can.

-Brings the fun back to levelingWith more perks to look forward to and more unique abilities, you can really feel your character progressing instead of feeling like the only thing that changes is the look of your weapon. The way your character plays will change as he or she grows.

-Meticulously balancedWhile there's always room for improvement, I've put a lot of effort into making sure these changes are consistently balanced. The overall power level is slightly higher than in the original Skyrim due to the perks themselves being better, but there shouldn't be any singularly overpowered perks or skill trees. When needed, I even calculated ability damage based on the game's internal formulas to make sure it was consistent.

-Skill synergyThe old perk trees only ever gave benefits to their related skill, which made skills feel disconnected and left certain skills without much use. The new perk trees give a lot more benefit to other skills, increasing the complexity of different character builds, and making even the most useless skills more interesting.

-Minimal conflictsEverything is carefully designed to have as few conflicts with other mods as possible. Even where conflicts arise, fixing them (or at least finding workarounds) should be relatively simple. SPERG is extremely mod friendly.

-Modder's resourceI've included the source code for all of my scripts, with the most generally applicable ones being generously commented. If you see an interesting ability that you want to copy or expand upon, you can find out exactly how it works.

-Less grinding, more playingWith SPERG, you don't have to worry about things like letting a mudcrab hit you enough so your armor skill keeps up with your other skills. Forget about grinding and just play. SPERG takes care of the rest.

What exactly does it do?

-Smooth scalingRather than tying skill improvement to a series of perks that you purchase as your skill increases, SPERG ties it to your skill directly. You no longer have to worry about what perks to take if you want a skill to be effective. Perks add new things, not make existing things better.

-Automatic perksSimilar to how the skill system worked in Oblivion, you earn unique bonus perks at 25, 50, 75, and 100 in each skill. These are great rewards for leveling up skills even if you don't intend to spend any perk points on them.

-New perk treesIt goes without saying that perk trees are completely redone in this mod. Nothing was removed (just made automatic or combined with other perks), but well over a hundred completely unique perks have been added.

-Fully ConfigurableDon't like an item in this list? Don't worry, it can be turned off. You'll never have to worry about a feature you don't like being bundled with features you do.

-Improves Skill RatesThrough the Skyrim -Community- Uncapper, this mod tweaks the leveling rates of each skill (but only slightly). The aim was to reduce grinding and balance the rate at which all skills increase, but to do so without changing the feel of the original game. While the values I've suggested are well balanced, you're free to change them or turn this feature off entirely.

-Alternate Skill GainSPERG adds several alternate sources of skill gain to make leveling feel more natural. For example, your Speech skill goes up when you use shouts in combat, and your amror skill goes up when you wear it while running around. Play the game, not the skill system.

-Equipment SalvagingLoot and steal to your heart's content, breaking down all kinds of items into raw components that you can use to improve your Smithing. This is a great addition if you have problems finding enough raw material to level the skill, or even if you just like stealing everything that isn't nailed down.

-Quest rewardsAs another fix to skill rates, this mod grants a free, semi-random skill gain every time you complete a quest. This is another aspect of SPERG that encourages you to just play the game instead of grind, and it also helps soften the disappointment when a quest reward is totally useless to you.

-Perk resetYou can completely reset your perks whenever you want. By default, this applies a temporary penalty to health, magicka, and stamina to make sure it doesn't feel like cheating, but if you feel like I do that this should have been included from the beginning, you can turn the penalty off entirely. You can even turn it off after it's been applied and it will retroactively disappear!

-Minimalist unarmed supportUnarmed combat is made completely viable with little other changes to it. There are no monk style semi-magical abilities so as not to conflict with the existing flavor in Skyrim. Instead, unarmed characters take on the role of a bar-brawling scoundrel, which is much more fitting (especially for Nords!).

-Better stavesPlaying a pure mage can be rough at low levels, but now staves can really help out. While staves were already powerful, using them came at the expense of leveling your own magic skills. Now, using a staff levels your magic skills like it always should have. To add to the fun, you can even learn spells from staves of all kinds, including unique staves like Wabbajack and Skull of Corruption.

Requirements

Skyrim version 1.9+ required.

Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) - Required for many functions used in SPERG, and it's also a requirement for the following two mods. Everyone who uses mods should already have this installed.

Skyrim -Community- Uncapper - Despite the name, SPERG doesn't actually uncap your skills using this mod. Instead, it limits your perk gain to one every two levels. SPERG perks are very potent, so gaining one perk per level is quite overpowered. Of course, you can tweak the uncapper configuration any way you want. Double your perk gain, reduce it further, uncap your skills (or don't). It's up to you.

Install using NMM/ModOrganizer, or unzip everything into your Data directory.

When installing manually, copy any optional patches along with the SKSE folder to your Data directory.

Activate any new plugin files and play!

Upgrade InstructionsUsers upgrading from any SPERG version earlier than 4.0 will need to uninstall the old version first. This is a one-time issue that I would prefer to avoid, but because SPERG has been packaged as an .esm to make community patches easier, Skyrim recognizes it as a different mod. Make sure you follow these instructions to uninstall cleanly so you can have a smooth upgrade and enjoy all the new features without any issues.

Use the in-game menu to uninstall. If you don't have a menu, type "set SPEUninstall to 1" in the console, save your game, then load your game.

Repeat this for every character who was using the mod.

Uninstall SPERG through your mod program of choice, or delete the plugin and .bsa files from your Data directory manually.

Install SPERG through your mod program of choice, or extract the archive into your Data directory manually.

If installing manually, copy the uncapper .ini settings and any applicable DLC patches from the SPERG directory to your Data directory.

Rebuild any patches created by other mods. Patches that still reference the old (deleted) version will crash the game due to a missing master error.

Activate any new plugins in your Data directory and load your game. Either start a new character or wait a moment for it to re-import your old one.

New Perk Trees

Of course, this description can't be complete without including the new perk trees. However, the formatting on this page is somewhat limited, so I'd recommend just downloading the mod and checking out perktrees.html in the SPERGreadme folder. If you want to take a peek before downloading, though, then look below.

Warrior Skills

ArcheryAn Archer is trained in the use of bows and arrows. The greater the skill, the more deadly the shot.

Master Debater - You gain 50 magicka, and your shouts prevent nearby enemies from shouting for a short time.

Patron - Alchemy shops and court wizards you invest in will stock unique and expensive potions and scrolls.

Legendary Skald - Time between shouts is reduced by 50%.

Mage Skills

AlterationThe School of Alteration involves manipulating the physical and magical worlds. This skill enhances other schools and makes it easier to cast spells like Waterbreathing, protection, and Paralysis.

Adaptation (Adept) - You gain the ability to breathe underwater. Most waterbreathing potions, spells, and enchantments give you the ability to walk on water instead.

Seer (Expert) - New spell tomes may be found on appropriate merchants.

Theurgist (Master) - Once every hour, you're able to cast a ritual spell near instantly for very little magicka.

Specialization perks

Ancestral Awakening - Your passive racial abilities are twice as strong, and you receive a second, awakened version of your racial power that can be used every 6 hours.

Spell Charge - Single cast spells are 15% more effective for each second spent casting them (max 45% increase).

Mage Armor - Magic armor spells never need to be re-cast. When not wearing armor, they are four times as strong and level Alteration as if it were an armor skill.

Efficiency Expert - Your magic skills increase the duration of spells in each school by up to double. Each rank in a school reduces the cost of spells in that school by 10%.

Mystic Transmutation - Allows you to forge an Arcane Converter, which can convert magicka into soul energy for powering enchantments. Higher skill levels allow the creation of more potent converters.

Magic Resistance - Blocks 30% of a spell's effects.

Spirit Echo - 10% chance of summoning a Spirit Echo in combat, which drains health, magicka, and stamina from enemies and returns it to you.

Chain Casting - Destruction spells charge with each spell cast. At max charge, dual casting a spell allows you to cast double damage spells at no magicka cost for 5 seconds, but afterwards the charge will reset.

Atronach - Absorb 30% of the magicka of any spells that hit you.

ConjurationThe School of Conjuration governs raising the dead and summoning creations from Oblivion. This skill makes it easier to cast these spells as well as Soul Trap and bindings.